Leader in Me

Leader in Me is a whole school transformation process, based off of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey. The process that teaches 21st century leadership and life skills to students while creating a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader. We sat down with students, staff and parents at Graham and Atwood to hear stories about the 7 Habits and how they are being used at school and at home.

Habit 1: Be Proactive

“One of my students was struggling to self-regulate her emotions. Then later that year, her family went through a traumatic experience. Her whole family was crying, and she stood in the middle of the room and said, “Be proactive. I’m in charge of me.” Then she was totally calm.”

Lyndsey Lawrence (Teacher)

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

“Yesterday, I asked for a Popsicle, but I couldn’t get it because my room was really messy. So I decided to clean up my room, then I got my Popsicle.”

Peyton Chatman (K)

Habit 3: Put First Things First

“I’m learning how to play euchre. My mom was folding laundry and I wanted to help her so we could play euchre together.”

Matthew Higuchi (2)

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

“If you are quiet in the hallways you get a peace sign. If you get 20 peace signs you get a prize and the other people can get work done because it is quiet.”

Lamiya Swope (4)

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

“[The talking stick] gives us each a moment to listen to each other and to celebrate or help each other. When you come to our house there is communication, it is so fun and we have such a good time with it.”

Amy Harwedel (Parent)

Habit 6: Synergize

“For economics we made our own small businesses and we could hire people. So I hired two people to help me, I told them what I wanted done, they did it for me and they were nice about it.”

Eleanor Clayton (3)

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

“At home, if I read a book for 20 minutes I have an extra 20 minutes to do fun stuff. When I have time to relax I am less tense and have more fun at school.”